BRIAN Clough claims Sir Alex Ferguson "dropped a clanger" when he sold Jaap Stam and replaced him with Laurent Blanc....

BRIAN Clough claims Sir Alex Ferguson "dropped a clanger" when he sold Jaap Stam and replaced him with Laurent Blanc.

Clough cannot see the logic behind the Manchester United manager's decision to offload Stam to Lazio so suddenly in August and bring in the veteran Blanc.

The former Nottingham Forest manager said in the January issue of 4-4-2 magazine: "I believe Alex dropped a clanger getting rid of Jaap Stam, a popular, efficient defender.

"I wasn't the only one who raised an eyebrow over that piece of business.

"There is no logical reason in footballing terms why Stam went and a slower Frenchman took his place."

Clough also reckons Ferguson does not feel he can drop the error-prone Fabien Barthez because he does not want to lose face further.

"He's far too erratic and he would drive me crackers if I were his manager and Alex has the dilemma of whether to stick with him to save face after he's cocked up over Stam and Blanc," he said.

Clough admits he has had a wry smile on his face as he has watched United struggle this season.

He feels Ferguson could yet emulate what he did at Forest and win two European Cups but he will have a chuckle to himself if the Scot doesn't.

"It does give me a wry smile that United are discovering this season that they can't win everything," he said.

"It may be that they will come good in the spring - as they often do - but it's a closer contest then many thought it would be last August.

"Can he win the Champions League at his last attempt? We'll know soon enough if his players still have the hunger to storm back into gear and get on a roll as they usually do when the Christmas decorations come down.

"But if Alex doesn't do it and has to make do with that solitary European success in 1999, I'll take a closer look at the porcelain memento that hangs on a wall in my lounge.

"It's got Robin Hood, Sherwood Forest and Nottingham Castle in the background and contains the information that Forest won the European Cup two years in a row - something United have not done yet.